CHARGERS: Documents shed light on DEA raids

DEA says Chao wrote more than 100 prescriptions to himself in last two years

SAN DIEGO ---- Chargers team physician Dr. David Chao wrote 108
prescriptions for himself or "inanimate entities" since June 10,
2008, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration affidavits
that were unsealed Tuesday and obtained by the North County Times
on Wednesday afternoon.

Chao's alleged actions would be in violation of controlled
substance and prescription regulations, the agency said. However,
he has not been charged with any crime.

The DEA requested 10 administrative inspection warrants,
executed on June 29, that included searches of the Chargers
football team practice facility in Murphy Canyon and Padres
baseball team offices at Petco Park.

Additionally, the DEA searched Chao's offices as well as those
of fellow Chargers team physician Dr. Calvin K. Wong and several
Padres doctors, including Gaston Molina, for evidence of illegal
prescriptions and illegal distribution of controlled
substances.

Documents were not seized at the Chargers facility, but some
were taken from pharmacies associated with Chao's
prescriptions.

The unsealed documents did not detail the evidence gathered.
They merely provided insight and motivation for issuing the
administrative inspection warrants.

The action by the DEA came five weeks after strong safety Kevin
Ellison, then on the Chargers' roster, was arrested and charged
with possession of a controlled substance. Police said they found
100 Vicodin pills in his car after he was pulled over for speeding
in Redondo Beach. The Chargers released Ellison on June 21, and he
has since signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

DEA spokeswoman Amy Roderick said that the searches were
fact-finding missions.

While additional evidence was gathered, Roderick said that the
investigation was ongoing and that there was no timetable for
charges to be filed, if at all.

Chao's attorney, Jim Godes, did not return a call seeking
comment. The Chargers did not comment on the new information or
Chao's job status with the team.

Several unsealed documents state the warrants were prompted by
the arrest of Ellison on May 24, which Ellison's agent, Jerome
Stanley, vehemently denied during an interview with the North
County Times on June 30.

The DEA conducted a review of the automated records and ordering
system, the state's controlled substance monitoring program and
"prescription activity by physicians associated with San Diego's
professional sports teams."

The DEA also said that Wong wrote one prescription for "Blue Box
Chargers," and six more in the patient name of "San Diego
Chargers." Those prescriptions were deemed "suspicious and
unlawful," according to affidavits relating to warrants for his
office and the Chargers team facility.

Those prescriptions led to a warrant application for Wong,
stating that he "has possibly used prescriptions to obtain
controlled substances for office dispensing to patients." Chao's
prescriptions led investigating DEA agent Brenda Catano to a
similar conclusion. Chao's patients include several high-profile
athletes and, per his duties as team physician, the entire Chargers
roster.

Catano also stated that she believed Chao has possibly "self
prescribed," and that Wong's prescriptions "were used for office
dispensing at the San Diego Charger Training Camp."